Why Talented Musicians Fail
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- Опубліковано 7 чер 2024
- The music business is tricky to navigate...but the cream rises to the top. This week we discuss why talented artists and musicians fail or "don't make it".
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Really appreciate each of you!
-Nicky V
Dude, these pearls apply to all business owners. Great job.
Really appreciate you saying that! Thanks for watching
I just saw you on TV,,,music vid,,,
Exactly, i am a self employed architect and everything he said applies to me also.
Music and popularity isn't always about who's most talented.
Spot on. Who’s smart enough to get the right team around them
I’ve never seen a more sober take on how to be successful as a musician. Thanks for this.
Really appreciate it man. Thank you for watching
This really rings so true! I had the pleasure of working with an amazingly talented drummer. He definitely had trouble with organizing, commitment, and communication.
We were driving to a gig together (I was driving my car - he didn't have a car...) and talking. He said he had gotten a gig with a new band, and was going to have to go buy a new calendar for the new band.
I instantly blurted out, before I could better phrase this, that this explained why he was always double-booking himself! He needed to put all of his gigs from all bands into ONE calendar so he would know if he was booked already.
At first there was a look of realization on his face. Then he got sheepish, perhaps a little ashamed. He buried his face in his phone for the rest of the drive to the gig.
That hilarious but also unfortunately probably not the only person that’s done this. Thank you for sharing and checking the video out
@@NickyV This guy was a wizard on the drums - pure fire. RIP. But he definitely had trouble with communication, planning, and follow-through. But I am telling you - he was a serious artist when it came to drums.
It doesn't matter how talented you are, if nobody can handle being in a tour bus with you, or dealing with you, it probably won't go well. A Nashville pro told me that a long time ago. He toured with a major artist for decades.
He’s was exactly right
@@NickyV He knew of players that were better than he was, but he said 6 weeks on a tour bus was more than anyone could take of them. He said you have to be competent, but that's just part of it. Eventually he quit the music business after he noticed that many of his long-term professional musician friends wound up having drinking issues, drug issues or marital problems. He became a mail carrier after 20 years or so on the road!
I feel like my best skill is songwriting but since I'm a solo artist I do everything else as well. I want to be successful enough to hire help. Working on it!
That’s great. Thank you for sharing and keep calculated.
You ain't lying. Just did a pickup gig on guitar. Decent singer but, terrible guitar player rhythmically. It was just him on acoustic and me on tele. Torture for me but, the folks seem to like it.
I’ve been teaching 40-50 students a week, and 75-120 gigs a year - for years now…. I totally get this video. 😂😂😂. You’re 100% correct about the gifts/deficiencies quotient. Also, there is a fine line between “team” and “sycophants.” lol.
This is absolutely spot on the money. Appreciate you sharing and checking the video out.
Hey mate, video for you.
Can you make a video called.. "If money didn't matter.. how would I become a rockstar" something along those lines. I think the problem holding a lot of musicians back is the lack of money and capital to invest at the start. However, hypothetically.. lets say you make 50k a month already running a business. And your goal is to record an album and tour the world in 6-12 months. What would you do with a 50k to 100k budget?
Great content. Cheers
Great video as always Nicky, Thanks.
Appreciate you watching!
Wherever you are whatever you're doing if you're playing music and having fun that's a win
Amen to that
I love this! This is a great view for both artists and supporting musicians and crew. The more we all understand each other, the more we can do together!
Amen to that. Also your CMA thumbnail is killer. Pulled me right in
Awesome insight, Nicky!!
Glad you enjoyed it man!
Great & sound advice.
Thanks, Nicky.
Stay healthy.
Take care.
Thank you! Back atcha! Appreciate you
Thanks, Nicky. You know what “we” also need? Constant reminding. Cheers!
Same haha, I’m really just talking to myself in these videos like a crazy person. Appreciate you checking the video out.
Great stuff and great lesson here!
Appreciate you checking it out!
Great video Nicky, Thanks!
Glad you liked it!
Your advice is so helpful, i am a local musician, play in church, lead the team (as a drummer, lol) and also an aspiring studio player from home and everything you've said really has opened my eyes to the reality of the business. Thanks a lot for your insight.
Absolutely! Thanks for watching
Always good info. Lateness in ANY profession is a deal killer.
Amen to that
Great perspective!
Thanks for watching!
Excellent insight. Thanks.
You got it!
Great analysis. I like your reference to having a supportive, knowledgable team.
Thank you for watching!
You brought up excellent points, thanks.
Thanks for watching!
@@NickyV I'm a fan now...
More great info. Appreciated the songwriter input as well 😉
Absolutely! Appreciate you watching
Thanks for sharing the real deal - so much good info, which goes beyond music and can be applied right now to many areas of life. Sheesh, now you are like a youtube life coach, cool. From Gleason, TN - thanks.
Hahaha need to put that on my business card. I feel like I’m not qualified to give advice but people seem to enjoy it. Appreciate you checking the video out
Good stuff.
New Canadian fan here. this is the 2nd video I have watched and honestly thank you for this great advice!
Nice! So glad you enjoyed it. Appreciate you checking the channel out
Great video Nicky! Excellent advice as always. I couldn't agree more about burnout. I learned a long time ago as well to just walk away for a few days. The weird thing is or at least for me when I do pick the bass back up I usually play better. It's almost like my fingers just needed a break. 😄🎸🎸🎸
For me when I step away for a while my fingers take a day or two to come back but mentally my ideas are fresh.
This is so well said. I’ve noticed that there’s almost a talent curve where people who are very talented can often succeed in an industry, but ironically, the people who have the most talent usually also struggle with concurrent mental health issues or personal issues that prevent them from actualizing. Many of the all-time greatest actors only did a couple of movies… I think that there’s something about the sensitivity level of an artist that makes inserting yourself into a machine, very difficult, but it is possible.
This is spot on man. Thanks for checking the video out
Van Gogh was not a rich painter. How many such talented artists are around?
Excellent video, I love your way of transmitting musical knowledge and experience, greetings from Argentina! :)
Awesome! So glad you like it!
Clean playing. Another interesting video.
Much appreciated! So glad you enjoyed it
Great advice!! I have leaned a lot about organizing things in the last three years and I’m still a work in progress :) managing things is tough but it’s super important as a pro for sure.
Thankfully we had cats like you teaching us this in LA. Huge advantage at 18
Nice playing man! Very slick
Thank you!
Love what you talk about I go a little too far on my channel get blocked lol most people
Don’t understand how Nashville is locked down lol hard to get into the big time lol luckily I did it in another state but meeting guys at Git didn’t hurt! Lol keep up great work.
Thank you for this , I have been wondering how to work with producers
Once you find one you like, help them help you. Explain your vision and clearly state your expectations. Make sure they are upfront about the budget on the front end.
I'm really enjoying your channel, Nicky. There are a lot of points you make that apply here in Austin, TX as well.
Killer! So glad you enjoy it Ken. Appreciate you watching
Always helpful - Great info thx for sharing . In Nashville this weekend Love to chat I’m re-building my team
Thanks for the insight. It's a collection of ideas I hadn't thought about. I know, just show up 45 minutes early and chew on a coffee while you chat with the road crew or engineer. Actually, showing up early in the studio helps the engineer locate you in the room and allows you to find out what the producer is looking for.
This is spot on. Especially on the studio side of the equation
Great content my friend 🎉
Thank you! I’ll do my best to keep it coming
This guy spoke truth. Great stuff.
Much appreciated!
You seem like a real knowledgeable person on the subject. I’ve been trying to start a band and honestly not sure how to even start making money at it but I know how to share it for free so maybe that’s a start. Getting gear together has been difficult but I think if I’m just able to record mix and share, maybe add video, we could work to produce art that people may want to consume in entirety and more than once. Cheers! Thanks for the advice! Been taking lessons as well
I think it’s good to put things out there when you are starting out. Helps you keep track of your progress, get feedback from peers, and sometimes it good to work things out and learn from them before you have a large audience judging you.
Nicky, this channel is beyond awesome. I jammed & hung w some of the Country Stars in LA in my 20’s back when… if I had YOU as my coach I would’ve been TOURING with em too. And gettin PAID
Means a lot man. Really appreciate the kind words
@@NickyVyoure welcome. I actually reached out to my old buddy Keith Gattis to produce some tracks I have but was saddened to find out he just passed away. That guy was one of the people who really instilled alot of determination in me way back. 2002 ish. One of the best players and a down home guy. 🙏🏻
Thanks, Nicky!! I feel contemporary music is crap. Even Elvis would fail in 2024. So many artists out there. It seems the music industry only wants crap music to succeed. No Serial Killer.
Older people thought Elvis’s music was crap. My grandfather used to call the Beatles’s music noise. And the cycle repeats.
@@hansmemling2311yes you are right, but Elvis and The Beatles sounds on the radio still today, even my little 8 or 9 year old guitar pupils know at least one song from them, and their music sound still fresh. And I can guarantee you that in 2084 (if the Human Race is still here) nobody will remember Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Ariana Grande or any other crap.
Captain crunch,,,
@@sidalientvI wouldn’t be so sure of Swift. She’s already set enough sales and billboard records to be in the same convo as the Beatles. At least when it comes to cultural impact. We won’t know what her legacy will be for a number of decades, but she’s already reached a point culturally that almost no one has outside of Elvis and the Beatles.
@@tbe0116 Liberace died stinky rich. Go ahead and ask any Gen Z who he was and no one had idea.
I played a couple of gigs with a guitarist that once recorded and toured with an international superstar. One gig was a backyard birthday party . On that one his car broke down in the guest of honors driveway forcing the birthday boy to make repairs. The other was a small wedding . On that one he left his vintage Les Paul in the parking lot of the venue and drove off without it. Lucky for him I was the one that found it. There was a reason he went from playing in large arenas to playing with me. He was a Great guitarist and a mess of a human being. Unfortunately he and the superstar he toured with have both passed away since.
That’s rough but comes with the territory of that talent sometimes
I'm digging it,,,🎉
Killer! So glad you like it
habitual lateness drives me insane! Great video and thanks for your time.
Absolutely! Thanks for checking it out
I showed up two hours early,,,it was already too late,,,
I like that opening country blues lick that moves down....I stole the premise and changed it a bit....will use it for a solo in Constant Sorrow....bluegrass! ;)
Right on! I stole a version of it from Carl Verheyen
I've seen a lack of organization hold a lot of talented people back.
The biggest one. Thanks for checking the video out
If you’re not 1/2 hour early, you’re late. Thanks for the videos.
Spot on!
Great video man. Any pieces of advice for a really new guitarist/content creator like me in this 2024 world? Where should I focus my efforts if I want to get my guitar playing in as many ears as possible? You’re always a great mentoring voice and are very in touch with the realities of music and human nature.
Really appreciate you saying this man.
I’d make a few accounts on sites like air gigs, fiverr, and soundbetter and start recording for people. Then post content that you think might get traction and mix your own work in there as well to get some more ears on it.
@@NickyV thanks so much that’s really great advice (as always) - I’ll definitely look into those. Keep up the good work!
Man, you are flying up the ranks of people I watch on the tube!!! You are really good at this!!!
@@brianmiller3287really appreciate it man
I wonder, do you find this to be less of a problem in major pro music towns, or do you find this dichotomy affects musicians no matter where they are?
I think it’s universal. The most balanced group I see is on the studio side of the equation.
Great vids. I have a question for you, any advice on a songwriter getting songs out there without having to be a recording artist? Thanks!
One option would be a publishing deal. Puts writers in circles with other talented writers lifting up the level for everybody. Then there’s a business already in place with a system in place for getting those songs placed. Or make the industry contacts yourself if possible and get your songs in the ears of artist, A&R and management.
Who’s to say someone is talented?
What’s the defining characteristic of failure?
What about success…what’s that look like?
I’m a total weirdo when it comes to this stuff; I don’t know why, but I feel like a trained monkey performing circus tricks when playing live for an audience…I hate it. It isn’t my idea of success.
I have already had more “success” with my songs than I had ever thought possible, and I’m just a nobody. I just posted my tunes on here and set them free.
I wasn’t expecting anyone to listen to them and enjoy them.
I don’t have connections in the industry, nor do I want to be part of the industry.
God told me to write and share my songs, so I did. I can’t think of anything better than to please God. That is why I personally feel so successful.
Cool topic, man. 🐰🎸🎶✌️
Love your comment. I think success is definitely relative to everybody which is why I kept it kind of open ended in the video and didn’t lay a definition out. For me, it’s being able to support my family and retire in my 50s (retirement will mean just playing on the projects I want to play on).
So glad you found your success and are sharing music with people. Thanks for checking the video out
@@NickyV I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to respond. This was the first video of yours that popped into my feed. I’ll have to check more of your stuff out.
@@JackTheRabbitMusic Much appreciated man. Hope you enjoy it
Back in the 90s I was a videographer for a TV station while fanfare what's going on. My reporter and I had interviews set up all day in a curtained booth. Sometimes an artist was a no-show, but you can bet by the time the manager got through with them, the artist suddenly was happy to do an interview a few hours later. Hats off to the managers of some of those artist!
Amen and god bless the road manager haha
Im not the pro musician. I am a business owner. To be successful you must be able to multi task and higher levels than others. If not you better surround yourself with those that can. Also be able to recognize the value of those around you or someone else will. Be kind to the little people as you climb the ladder to success. You may need them as you're coming down.! I really enjoy your contributions a sincerely decent human.
Man this is very very kind of you to say and fantastic advice as well. Always trying to pull the people slightly below you up is one of the best ways of turning people into evangelist of you and your brand…and simply the right thing to do if you are able.
Appreciate you checking the channel out.
That’s me. I’ve got the goods but not the personality. Never made the jump to the A leagues, but I played with the best in the B leagues locally.
Appreciate you checking the video out!
Excellent 👍 470 #
So awesome man! I have been reading effortless mastery by Kenny Werner. I am set to fly out from North Texas to South Texas as a white guy selected to play on Tejano music. I am going to a place where two cultures collide and I am nervous! Guy's on the level of Flaco Jimenez will be there and I am going over in mind why they hired this white boy! Lol....On time is a given and I just want to be what they expected which is , I have no fucking clue!
Tejano music that I have researched is the same so I guess my job is to radically change some some things but keep some heritage . Wish me luck fellas.....
That’s great man! Glad you are getting to experience that. Effortless mastery is such an amazing book. Thanks for watching!
Great insights here!
Appreciate it!
How and where do you learn these organization skills
Usually mentors and a lot of the time from people that aren’t in the music industry. Look at how somebody runs a successful business and ask them how they organize their thoughts, finances, scheduling etc. Or pay them for a consultation.
Personally for me it was a combination of mentors, neighbor growing up that was smart with his finances, and being annoying with asking my successful friends for advice.
It’s hard to write a catchy tune
That’s why
Plenty of talent but no super catchy songs
They can play just as good as say jimmy page or a country guitar player but no black dog or stairway to heaven
Work ethic. I know😂
Haha basically
I've suffered the same problems, I love singing, I've not put any covers on here for two years, I have adhd and autism, and it's difficult to cope.
I got donuts with a musician this morning with ADHD. It’s definitely a difficult hurdle to get over or more so manage.
@NickyV thanks for replying buddy, 🙏. I definitely want to put some of my original material on here at some point.
Great advice from a great musician!
Appreciate it man. Thanks for watching
Ohhh😲....how interesting! Thanks
You bet! Thanks for watching
35 years in Nashville... I've had nearly a dozen close friends get major record deals and only 2 out of that dozen have had top-10 singles. All of them lost their initial deals at some point once the singles dried-up and they eventually got the "we just don't hear it" label meeting. The scary reality is two major things determine if you make it. 1) luck 2) a great song out of box. If you don't have that hit song early you're toast. The industry doesn't develop artists anymore...they just don't have the patience. Oh yeah... one other thing that may help ..if your family can buy 3% of the label like Taylor Swift's family did that'll give you a boost up the ladder. 🤘. Anyone who's lived in a town like Nashville knows there's 20+ times more top-flight talent then there are label spots. Its a fickle biz. All the talent , organization, determintation in the world guarantees you nothing. That being said you can always be a mid-level self-promoted artist...it beats digging ditches. 😊
There are definitely no guarantees. Depending on what one's version of 'making it' is though, I feel there are definitely ways to give yourself a leg up and make a living at it. That 3% downpayment definitely would be a leg up haha. Thanks for checking the video out man.
@@NickyV yeah.. I've been full-time here the entire time but I diversified by doing songwriter demos in my home studio to go along with gigging. Thanks for the vid 🤘😎
I had a label I wanted to be on since I was 17 in the palm of my hands. He told me it was the best shit he's heard in years. Then I made it evident that I was insane so he ghosted me lmao...
It is not laziness (regarding the art), it's not that I'm totally unlikable, it's not the quality of the material... I think if i were to boil it down, I would say the biggest problems are my shyness and strangeness.
Nicky love your content. If you’re needing some keyboard tracks layed down contact me.
Appreciate it man!
👏👏👏👏
Your typical aspiring musician is business stupid. It really comes down to relationships. After that, it's marketing. Musicians fail miserably most of the time. That's why it's 'easy' for you to succeed, you're one smart cookie. 🍪 Gonna hit you up for a lesson soon. Rock on!
Haha appreciate the kind words man. Would love to help out if you ever want to dig in on a lesson. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Well said I feel. If it works, in the future, I think your viewers might be interested in a break down of the number system.
Good call! Need to do one of those
👍
There's always that one guy!..lol
Why do talented musicians fail? The answer is easy..and you can answer it in one of two ways..and both apply. 1. They don't have songs. 2. They can't write songs. You can have all of the skill in the world..but if you are just noodling around..you are just noodling for the sake on noodling. You have to have songs...good songs that require nooding.
I wrote a song once.
Morgan Wallen's handlers keep failing him. And yet, he's a country music song in the making 24/7.
He's the CHAIRman of the bored,,,
Has nothing to do with his handlers...puhleeze. the stuff he's doing is in peanuts compared to Cash, Haggard, Jones. It's just amplified because of the barrage of media looking for clickbait.
It’s sounds like the producers your describing have the same skills as any good dr, lawyer, manager/ceo
Most of the time yes.
Look to the Beldin Model
I wasn’t familiar with this but just looked into it. Really interesting! Thanks for sharing
If your out to sell..its generally not creative..its a formula
Sometimes yes but the ones that are the best at it are creative or find a degree of artistry within that formula.
What if I feel like I possess neither “great talent” or organization skills….?
At times I feel like the strongest “thing” in me is imposter-syndrome….
I have the Love and Passion for music making, and create songs often… I have tons of little parts saved that I know will one day evolve into songs….
I walk around seeing killer potential in other non-pro musicians, and I see them as Peers because I also see some type of potential in my stuff…
But it seems that no one “sees me or my music” in the same light…. And that causes me to think I’m delusional or I just suck and should quit trying…. I’m obviously hardheaded and a glutton for punishment (of my own making)…..
Y’all are all pro musicians, not therapists….
Not sure what to do….🎸😔
PS. It’s gotten so bad, I started living on ramen and peanut butter sandwiches so I could buy a bunch of synths and drum boxes to just make music by myself…. But that utterly negates the joy of playing with a band of likeminded musicians.
Lost and unconfident
The best advice I could possibly give is to read the book Effortless Mastery. It’s my music bible and addresses a few of the topics you mentioned. Also, Justin Ostrander has a fantastic video on Impostor Syndrome you might want to check out.
I couldn’t allow my own mind to consider myself a musician until I had written and published my own songs.
If you have a finished song to show people, they may take you a bit more seriously.
All that gear and sacrificing good food (eating PB sandos) for synths is not gonna help.
Buying more hammers and nails won’t build you a better home…use the tools you already have, and learn how to extract the most from them.
You can literally write songs without any instruments.
It helps tremendously if you can sing.
This isn’t talent this is playing by numbers.
Dude, I'm an autistic musical savant. Tell me about gifts and deficiencies!
Cheers from Memphis. (it should also be worth noting that I am completely broke)
Thank you for checking the video out man. It’s a wide array of giftings and deficiencies in our world for sure.
If you need to get a job done make sure you give it to a busy man.
Love this!
Adhd is a big problem with good artists too
Was discussing this very topic with a musician this morning
Did he say"hurting cats"???
Herding haha.
Sorry I know I talk too fast
@@NickyV well dang there boy you better slow down. 😆
I use that phrase all the time when describing musicians: Dealing with musicians is like herding cats.
@@ralphfurley4217 I thought you said "hurting "
You know a friend of mine took me never to go to Austin. She said that the sheriff there arrests musicians and escorts them to the outskirts of town. I wouldn't know about that is it true? I'm from the UK. And I lve here in Toronto.
Welcome to the houseplant jungle,,,
ua-cam.com/video/o9vxAT8B5ZY/v-deo.htmlsi=-d_Swf5zqwumVbzE
This was my lead guitar player and band,,,check it out he destroys it near five minutes,,,
It isn't about talent anymore.
Talent makes it a lot easier
It isn’t about talent, it’s about how much shit they can give us in the mainstream
The dumbing down of America
Mediocre material, lack of marketing skills, lack of personality
Too many talented musicians not enough stages.
If you dont write/play your own stuff then you aint an 'artist', you're just a scamming performer IMO. Imagine Picasso signing his name on someone else's painting, same thing.
That’s exactly why we have performing rights agencies to make sure the writers get paid even when somebody is playing their song and making money from it.
They don't have enough houseplants,,,
Working on the jungle
KISS succeeded. The Ramones succeeded. All while countless players of much more skill languished in their bedrooms. It’s just the way it goes.
Kiss had the business end down to a science
KISS were skilled musicians. Once you accept that, you'll understand why they succeeded. They gained traction before their marketing genius took over.
@@flazjsg no one is saying they were not skilled to some degree. But it remains a valid point that there were many many more skilled players, better songwriters, etc that never made it while KISS did make it.
@@Gk2003m I understand what you're saying and I'm not even the biggest KISS fan. It's easy to say what you're saying - and a lot of guys say it, but give me a list of better songs than these from a writer/band that never made it: Rock and Roll All Nite, Beth, I was made for loving you, Shout it out Loud, Detroit Rock City, Strutter, King of the NIghttime World, Black Diamond, Rocket Ride, Shock Me. We'll start with these 10 tunes.
@@flazjsg do research on a band called Shoot The Doctor. A different band: Roy G Biv. A different writer: Richard Wyman. While he did eventually “make it”, most folks don’t know who he is… yet his bands and songs in the 1980s were amazing. But never got past the recording industry execs of the time.
Too many fish not enough food
Hey Nicky! Great stuff. Might wanna throw the in front of those sweet water links so they’re clickable.
Thank you for catching that!
👍